If you are interested in Windows 11, you will be interested in your Trusted Platform Module (aka TPM).
A TPM is just a physical chip on your computers motherboard that contains a number which is used by Windows and other software to encrypt (scramble) data and keep you safe. A TPM can also contain some passwords and certificates.
Note that TPM chips are optional. One of the differences between a corporate brand like Dell OptiPlex and a retail brand like Dell Inspiron was often the TPM. OptiPlex’s always have TPM’s but not all Inspirons do.
There are 5 ready ways to check your TPM.
Right click on your START button and select DEVICE MANAGER then expand SECURITY DEVICES:
Click on your START button and type type SYSTEM INFORMATION, then expand SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT > SYSTEM DRIVERS > TPM. If your TPM is STARTED, you have a TPM, but you can’t tell which version from here:
Click on your START button and type TPM.MSC then press your ENTER key. You can see if you have a TPM and what version it is:
Right click on your START button and select WINDOWS POWERSHELL (ADMIN) or WINDOWS TERMINAL (ADMIN) to launch a command line interpreter. Then copy / paste this command:
get-tpm
or if you want more details:
get-WmiObject -Namespace root\cimv2\security\microsofttpm -Class Win32_Tpm
Shut down your computer, then power it up and repeatedly press whatever key accesses the BIOS / UEFI (often this is the F2 key, the ESC key or the DELETE key, but your machine could be different). Then search for the BIOS for things like:
CLICK TO EXPAND:
The bottom line is that a TPM is a great idea but not all computers have one and even fewer will have a version 2.0 TPM which Microsoft MIGHT make a requirement for Windows 11. As it stands today, Windows 11 only requires TPM 1.2 but Microsoft has changed that minimum requirement twice already so the future is unknown.
This website uses cookies.
